84 Tiny Houses That Will Convince You to Downsize

Living large is officially a thing of the past. Settling in a tiny house is more than just a trend—it's a lifestyle choice that people all over the country are happily taking up. Although many structures can measure less than 300 feet, with ideas this stylish and innovative, small-sized homes are anything but a sacrifice.

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Christina Salway

Greenhouse Meets Tree House

This upstate New York picturesque perch, owned by Treehouse Masters' Christina Salway, is constructed from roughly 75 salvaged windows.

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Christina Salway

Fort-uitous Window Sourcing

"I joke that the structure is a family quilt of salvaged windows, because they came from important people in our lives," Christina says. "We got windows from my husband's, aunt, my mom, an old landlord..."

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ROGER WADE

Quaint Little Cabin

A hand-built hideaway—short on space, tall on charm—looks right at home among the Douglas firs of Port Orchard, Washington.

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ROGER WADE

Channel a Little Practical Magic

When square footage is tight, it helps if statement pieces are both charming and useful. An old wood-burning stove brings a vintage vibe to new construction and also heats the entire place.

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ROGER WADE

Tip the Scales

Compact appliances and smaller-scale custom cabinetry—featuring salvaged leaded fronts and old sewing drawers—are just the right size for this tiny kitchen.

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ROGER WADE

Embrace Off-The-Wall Ideas

Built-ins are always a welcome storage solution when space is at a premium. The homeowner implemented green drawers (a garage sale find) for the "dresser" that’s built into the wall.

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Cody Ulrich

Gorgeous Backyard Getaway

Dallas designer Paige Morse renovated two 100-year-old sheds in her backyard to create a cozy home away from home. With just two rooms and 250 square feet, her space is remarkably stylish and space-efficient.

It took Paige four months to renovate the two sheds into one stunning guest house.

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Cody Ulrich

Nothing but Neutrals

By sticking to a black-and-white color scheme, Paige makes her modestly-sized kitchen appear much larger than it really is.

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Cody Ulrich

Hidden Storage Spaces

Paige simply attached a piece of striped fabric to her bathroom sink—instead of installing a bulky set of drawers—to cover up her necessities. The double mirrors also create the illusion of more space.

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David Hillegas

Dreamy Treehouse

This treehouse-slash-guest room looks small from the outside, but boasts a living room, office area, and bedroom within.

Their sleeping space was so important that Emily and Sloane Southard actually designed their entire treehouse around it.

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Ian Pratt Photography

Luxury Farmhouse on Wheels

With authentic country character and hand-crafted, farmhouse-inspired details, Tiny Heirloom Homes makes it easy to downsize and upgrade at the same time. This 192-square-foot luxury farmhouse is outfitted with a sleeping loft, kitchen, bathroom, living space, and even a laundry machine. The base model, similar to the one shown here, starts at $65,000 and includes delivery plus a one-time trip out to the company's Oregon City headquarters to see its construction.

Michelle and Tyson Spiess used top-of-the-line materials, fixtures, and finishes to create their space that doesn't skimp on style or quality.

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Tiny Heirloom Homes

Tiny and Tidy Kitchen

Although (very) small, this cooking space features a a 24-inch under-counter fridge, a 20-inch four-burner gas range, and ample granite counter space.

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Tiny Heirloom Homes

Cozy Sleeping Space

The couple's quaint bedroom is only 4 feet high, which is just big enough to fit a king-size bed.

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Tiny Heirloom Homes

Little Laundry Room

The Spiesses managed to fit a washer and dryer in this 2-foot-wide closet, which still has another 4 square feet of overhead storage space to boot!

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Roger Davies

Charming California Bungalow

At 970 square feet, this quaint cottage is certainly on the larger side of the tiny home movement, but this little home has plenty of small space design ideas. Built in 1890, the charming Redlands, California property was originally the gardener's residence on a large estate.

Try scaled-down living on for size at Live a Little, a collection of three mini retreat, including the Old Blue Chair shown here, surrounding a central fire pit on a scenic mountaintop property just outside Chattanooga, Tennessee. Rates from $142 per night.

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Live a Little

Adorable A-Frame Cabin

This cute 80-square-foot guest cabin was built in just three weeks for $700.

The Cedar Mountain Tiny House, built by Nashville-based New Frontier Tiny Homes, might look small on the outside, but inside, it's big on farmhouse-style design. With repurposed accessories, shiplap walls, subway tile, and rich hardwood floors, it's the perfect combination of rustic-chic and modern simplicity.

The sleek design by New Frontier Tiny Homes features a farmhouse sink, shiplapand subway tile squeezed into 200 square feet. Best of all, though, a sliding glass garage door reveals a deck that pops out from the home, making al fresco dining a cinch.

Four couples in Texas created "Bestie Row," a mini neighborhood where they could all live in houses lined right up next to each other. Each tiny house boasts a bedroom, living room, and bathroom, and was constructed with a minimalist motif—think concrete floors, grained plywood, and a metal exterior.

This 550-square-foot Maine cottage has solar panels on the southeast-facing porch to collect energy (auxiliary batteries can store at least a week's worth) to power the refrigerator and heat shower water. A wood stove, anchored by a hearth made of local beach stones, radiates enough warmth for the entire building.

As soon as you walk inside this tiny 250-square-foot home, a tidy and warm escape full of country character greets you. Natural light swims throughout the space, and farmhouse-inspired wood accents (most of which are made from salvaged and reclaimed wood) give it a rustic yet modern touch.

This 280-square-foot tiny house is here to prove anyone who claims you can't use dark colors in a small room wrong. Instead of going light and airy, the Indigo Tiny Home by Driftwood Homes USA is decorated with pops of dark, moody colors.

This 196-square-foot house near Boise, Idaho, is home to Macy Miller, her partner James, their daughter Hazel, and their Great Dane, Denver. A 27-year-old architect, Macy designed the home from scratch and built it on a 24-foot flatbed with help from friends and family. Clad in siding made of recycled pallet wood, the minimalist home is flooded with light and feels spacious despite its size. Hidden storage under the bed, above the pantry, and behind the fridge are contrasted with open shelving in the kitchen to make the space feel bigger. In total, Macy spent about $11,000 on her tiny house and is now able to live rent- and mortgage-free.

Designed by Broadhurst Architects, this prefab corn crib-inspired structure takes its basic form from traditional American corn cribs, which were common farm buildings that served to store and dry corn. The chic, modern 250-square-foot structure is delivered and assembled on-site, and includes a sleeping loft, an expandable kitchen wall, a bathroom, and living room. An insulated glass garage door opens to a small deck, connecting the interior space to the landscape beyond. Made of sustainable and recyclable materials, the structure can be dismantled and relocated to another site.

Designed by Derek "Deek" Diedricksen of RelaxShacks.com and built by Joe Everson of Tennessee Tiny Homes, this transforming micro A-frame cost only $1,200 to construct. One roof/wall is made of Tuftex polycarbonate roofing: Not only is it translucent to allow in natural light, the lightweight material is attached to the structure with hinges so it easily can be raised and propped on legs to expand the space from 80 square feet to 110. On the other side of the A, the purlins supporting the roof sheathing are placed horizontally to serve double duty as shelves. Two daybeds offer additional storage, a kitchen wall features a sink and space for a mini fridge, and a micro loft has a hinged "sunroof" for ventilation. Architect duo David and Jeanie Stiles drafted the build-it-yourself plans for this A-frame, which are on sale for $30.

The 204-square-foot "Wind River Bungalow" is the Chattanooga, Tennessee, home of tiny house enthusiasts Travis and Brittany Pyke, who started Wind River Custom Homes to help others fulfill their dreams of living simply in mini dream homes. Constructed of rain-screen cedar and hardy siding for extreme durability, the bungalow is full of custom features, including a pine and cedar interior, polymer concrete counters, and a loft ladder integrated into the shelving system.

This is the Olympia, Washington home of tiny house pioneer Dee Williams, author of The Big Tiny, a memoir that details her decision to downsize to an 84-square-foot house that she built from the ground up after a near-death experience. Constructed atop a metal truck trailer, the super-small pine-and-cedar bungalow houses a kitchen counter with a propane one-burner, a sleeping loft, solar-powered lights, a composting toilet, and a sink (but no running water). To help others realize their tiny house dreams, Dee also founded Portland Alternative Dwellings, a tiny house education, resource, and consulting company.

This darling red-roofed cottage sits in a grove of leafy trees near the water's edge in Freeport, Maine. Designed by Mac Lloyd of Creative Cottages, the environmentally sensitive abode packs in a full kitchen, bathroom, living space, sleeping quarters, gas fireplace, laundry, and a loft space, while still managing to seem airy and spacious.

This floating 240-square-foot cabin is an off-the-grid summer escape for Maine couple Foy and Louisa Brown. Assembled onshore, a foundation of plastic floatation tubs, Styrofoam, and pontoons was then towed to sea, and the cottage was built above it, using mostly pine shiplap. Louisa carries water out daily via canoe for a tank that fills the shower and kitchen; at night, candles, oil lamps, and solar lights illuminate the home.

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